Traffic boss gets 93% salary hike

The Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA) has lost close to half of its annual revenue because municipal authorities are not issuing as many traffic fines as they did – but the RTIA’s boss got a whopping 93% increase in his basic salary. This emerged in the agency’s annual report for 2016-17.

The RTIA is mandated to administer the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) Act, which has been partially implemented in Johannesburg and Tshwane only.

The registrar of the agency, Japh Chuwe, saw his basic pay increase by 93% from R1.8 million to R3.49 million in 2016-17, according to the report.

But Chuwe’s bonus “shrunk” from R1.57 million to R524 329, which left him with a total income of over R4 million. This meant he received R640 131 more in 2016-17 than in the previous year.

Over the same period, the board and board committees members’ total remuneration grew from R1.66 million to R3 million.

This comes as the agency’s revenue shrunk by almost 42%, or R100 million, and the minister approved the removal of four crucial performance targets. Chuwe, in his overview, ascribed the drop in revenue to the fact that authorities have issued 63.44% fewer traffic fines.

The actual number of Aarto notices (fines) issued dropped from 5.5 million to 2 million. The RTIA only plays a subsequent role in the Aarto process that has to be initiated by the issuing authorities, Chuwe said. The agency has no control over the number of fines issued.

Chuwe said court challenges the agency was embroiled in resulted in reduced levels of public compliance and a dispute with the Post Office about the payment of postage impacted revenue.

The minister of transport approved the removal of performance targets that required the RTIA to serve 1.3 million courtesy letters and 1.2 million enforcement orders.

It was also relieved of the duty to train 1 200 officers with regard to Aarto and 6 000 back office staff with regard to the points demerit system.

From April to September last year, the RTIA issued a mere 21 courtesy letters to the Post Office for service on motorists. Over the full period the number of courtesy letters issued reduced by more than 80%. – news@citizen.co.za

Brought to you by Moneyweb